The present invention relates to foldable articles in general, especially to articles which can be utilized as curtains or the like.
It is well known to mount a curtain on a rod in such a way that the upper portion of the curtain forms or can form a plurality of folds. Such folding is desirable and advantageous in order to enhance the appearance of the curtain as well as to enable the curtain to cover a portion of or the entire window, door or other structure behind or in front of it.
In accordance with a presently known proposal which is disclosed in German Auslegeschrift No. 1,260,719, a relatively stiff tape is inserted into the upper marginal portion of the curtain and the tape is weakened at selected intervals so as to enable or to compel the curtain to form folds of predetermined size. A drawback of such proposal is that the curtain must be suspended on a rod by means of hooks or rollers.
In accordance with a different prior proposal, a continuous stiff tape is replaced by a series of discrete rigid plates which are normally made of a plastic material. The curtain can be folded in regions between neighboring plates. This proposal exhibits the same drawback as that in the aforediscussed German publication, namely the upper marginal portion of the curtain must be suspended on the rod by means of hooks and/or rollers. Alternatively, specially designed tracks must be provided to receive the topmost portion of the curtain.
In accordance with another earlier proposal, the upper marginal portion of a curtain can be folded by means of so-called draw tapes. This proposal exhibits the drawback that it is necessary to form accurately shaped additional loops.